Railway despatch-catcher.



A. BEAMER.

RAILWAY DESPATGH GATOHER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1908.

. 934,129, Y Patented Sept. 14, 1909.l

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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A. BEAMER. RAILWAY DESPATUH CATUHER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 190s.

Patented Sept. 14, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED BEAMER, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TO A. B. C. TRAIN OPERATING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY DESPATCI-I-CATCHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 14, 1909.

Application led May 9, 1908. Serial No. 431,941.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED BEAMER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Despatch-Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide means for delivering despatches to moving trains; and also means whereby a plurality of despatches, generally two, can be delivered to different parts of the same train, ordinarily one to the engineer on the locomotive and one to the conductor to be delivered at the caboose or rear car of a passenger train. j

The nature of my invention and its several objects will appear more fully from the ap pended description and claims and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings-Figure l is a diagrammatic view of a railway train with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a view of the catcher in operative position. Fig. 3 is a detail view of part of the catcher. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the catcher folded to an inoperative position against the side of the car. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the holder for the hoops, showing a hoop in position. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of part of the holder. Fig. 7 is a view of a mast holder with two hoops in position, together with a view of part of a car with a catcher attached.

Generally speaking, my invention consists in providing means for detachably holding two hoops in position at different elevations at the side of a railway track, the hoops having despatches secured thereto by a spring clamp or otherwise, and providing upon the locomotive and one of the cars of a train two projecting arms located at different levels in such manner that each arm will seize and carry away one of the hoops with its attached despatch. As is well-known, train orders are delivered in duplicate, one to the engineer and one to the conductor. By means of my invention, embodying the hoops at different elevations and the catchers on the locomotive and rear carat different elevations, despatches may be delivered to the engineer and conductor without the necessity of bringing the train to a stop.

The form of the hoop is clearly illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7 of the drawings. It may be formed of wood bent into the form of a closed loop 1 having a projecting stem 2. The end of the wooden strip forming the loop may be secured to the central portion of the strip by means of a nail or rivets 3. The projecting stem 2 is preferably circular in cross section, for the purpose of properly coacting with the holder, and is tapered to a wedge shaped form at 4. For the purpose of holding a despatch in place upon the hoop, I provide some form of spring clamp, preferably formed of wire, as indicated at 5. This clamp maybe conveniently formed by wrapping the wire around the junction between the end of' the wooden strip and the central portion'thereof, and forming a projecting loop 6 adapted to be held by the spring tension of the wire against the wooden strip. The despatch is inserted by lifting the wire loop, inserting the despatch beneath and permitting the loop to spring back to normal position.

rlhe hoops above described are designed to be held upon a mast or other support 7 at the side of a railway track, as illustrated in Fig. 7, the two hoops being held at different elevations. The holder wherein the hoops are secured is shown in the present instance as comprising a base plate 8 provided at its upper and lower ends with yokes 9 having their outer ends spaced from the main body of the base plate. At their outer extremities the yokes 9 carry housings 10, which may consist of short sections of gas pipe provided at their' outer ends with the usual caps 11. Inside of the housings 9 are plungers 12, which are impelled against the ends of the base plate by means of springs 13. Preferably, the plungers 12 are provided with reduced stems 14 which pass through the centers of the springs and through apertures in the caps 11, thus forming guides for the plungers. The inner ends of the plungers are preferably rounded, as shown at 13, for the purpose of facilitating the removal of the hoops when caught by the co-acting mechanism upon a passing train. The ends of the base plate 8 opposite the plungers 9 are preferably grooved, as shown at 14, in order to provide a more secure seat for the stems 2 of the hoops. In order to additionally secure the hoops in place without obstructing their free removal, I provide leaf springs 15 secured to the inner faces of the yokes 9 and having their free ends project over the grooves 14. The free, ends of the springs are adapted to be .engaged by the'wedge shaped end tof the stem 2 when the latter is inserted in place in the holder. From the foregoing, it willbe apparent that the hoops may readily be mounted in the holder by sliding' them endwise, the taperedV end 4L of the stem 2 serving to raise the plunger 13 and the spring 15. p

The mechanisn'i for removing the hoops from the holder consists essentially in' an arm projecting diagonally forward from some part of the train, and having its end so located that it will enter the center of the loop of the despatch hoop and remove the same from its holder. I have illustrated the catcher as consisting of a base vided at its back with a projecting arm 17 adapted to co-act with a socket 18 of the form usually employed for attaching lamps and flags. In use, the base plate is designed to lie in a plane parallel to the side of the car or locomotive to which it is attached. Pivoted to the base plate is the catcher arm 19. In the present insta-nce I have shown the cat-cher arm as rigidly secured to a hinge plate 20 pivoted by means of the pin 21 to brackets 22 extending between the base plate 16 and a horizontal projection 28 extending forwardly therefrom. The base plate 16 is provided with an aperture 24 and with a lug 25 projecting rearwardly from a point at one side of said aperture. Pivoted to the lug 25 and extending forwardly through the aperture 24 is a latch 26 provided with a downn wardly extending lip 27 adapted to engage the hinge plate 20 and to hold the same in vertical position, in which position the arm 19 will lie along the side of the car and in close proximity thereto, as illustrated in Fig. et. Upon the rear of the plate 16 I provide a housing 28, for the purpose of inclosing a spring 29, the projecting end of which engages and normally holds in depressed position the latch 26. IVhen approaching a station where a despatch is to be delivered without stopping the train the latch 26 is raised and the arm 19 permitted to drop by gravity to the position illustrated in Fig. 2. In order to properly position the arm 19 when in its lowered position I provide an adjustable stop screw 30 threaded into an aperture in the horizontal projection 23, and provided with a lock nut 24.

As illustrated'in Fig. 1, the engineers despatch catcher is secured to the side of the cab just beneath the arm rest and in position to engage the lower one of the hoops upon the mast 7, and the conductors catcher is located upon the rear corner of the caboose at such an elevation that it will engage the uppermost of the two hoops. The essential idea is, however, that the two catchers be located at different elevations in order that plate 16 pro-- scribed are essential.

`What I claim anddesire to ters Patent is;

1'. In an apparatus of the class described, a car, a despatch catcher comprising asocltet rigidly secured to the car, a support having a member removably engaging said socket, a catcher arm pivotedL Vto said support and movable from proximity to the car to a` position projecting obliquely therefrom, and means mounted onfthe support for holding the armin retracted position'. -2.1 In an apparatus of the class'described, a. car, a support Xed theretoan arm pivoted to said support, and -asprino-` pressed latch mounted on said Vsupport an adapted to engage said arm to hold it againstmovement. Y 8. In an apparatus of theclass described, a support, a plate -pivoted thereto, an arm secured to said plate, a lug upon said sup,- port adjacent an aperture therein, a housing projecting-from said support, a latch pivoted to said lug and projecting through said aperture, and a spring engaging-,said latch and housing, said latchbeing adaptedto engage said plate.

secure by Letf Y 4; In an apparatus of theclassfdescribed,

ai support, aV plate pivoted thereto, `an arm,V secured to saidk plate, an adjustablestop' upon said support inoperative relation to said plate, a lugupon` said support adjacent an aperture therein, a housing projectingrfrom said support, a latch pivotedrto said vlug and projecting through said aperture, and `a spring engaging said latch and housing,said latch being adapted to engage said plate.

V5. In an apparatus of the class described, a hoop holder, comprising-arigid 'base,jand' a lspring. pressed Vplunger opposed to said pbase. Y Y Y ,Y `6. In an apparatus of the class described,

a grooved base, a round headed plunger, and` Va spring impelling said plunger toward saidY groove. K Y Y j 7. In an apparatus of theclass described, a grooved base, a plunger-opposed to'said base, a spring impellingsaid plunger toward said groove, and a spring xedto said base and having itsy freeY end overlying said groove. Y r f 8. In an apparatus ofthe clas's'described,`

a base plate having its ends grooved and lv ing in substantially horizontal planes at different elevations, and spring plungers opposed to each of said grooves.v

9. In an apparatus of the class described, l plate, and ya despatch hoop comprising a a base plate having its ends grooved and lyloop and a. free end, said free end being held ing in substantially horizontal planes at difbetween said plunger and the groove in said ferent elevations, spring plungers opposed base plate. to each of said grooves, and springs Xed to In testimony whereof, I have subscribed 15 said base plate and projecting over said inv name.

grooves. ALFRED BEAMER.

l0. In an apparatus of the class described, VVit-nesses:

a grooved base plate, a` spring pressed EDMOND L. IVORDEN,

10 plunger opposed to the groove in said base CHARLES J. SCHMITT. 

